PHILADELPHIA - Sophomore Allee Ilgenfritz exploded for a career-high six goals and the La Salle lacrosse squad overcame a furious George Washington rally to defeat the Colonials 10-8 in the Atlantic 10 opener on Sunday afternoon.

"Any time you come up with a win in the A10, it's a big win," Head Coach Candace Taglianetti Bossell said. "Our conference is very competitive this year and we are very excited to have earned the win today. [Allee] was playing amazing today and she really lit the spark on the attack." 

Ilgenfritz drained four goals in the first half to power the Explorers (5-4, 1-0 Atlantic 10) to a 7-0 halftime lead over the Colonials (3-7, 1-1 Atlantic 10). Katelyn Fay added two goals and an assist; Caitlyn Brostrand added one goal which proved to be the game winner. Kelly Furman also chipped in one goal.

Bailey Forcier led the visitors with three goals, and Jamie Bumgardner added three points on one goal and two assists.

The Explorers ran out to a 5-0 lead behind three of Ilgenfritz's goals before they allowed a single Colonial shot attempt. Fay opened scoring four minutes into the game before Ilgenfritz rattled off three straight between the 25:23 mark and the 20:37 point. Fay found Furman for a goal at 15:56 to go up 5-0.

The Colonials finally got a shot attempt off at 14:45 after winning the draw control after Fay's goal, but it sailed wide. Both teams held for another six minutes without a goal until Ilgenfritz drained her fourth at 8:44. She added another just before halftime to put the Explorers up 7-0 at the break, and the Explorer defense limited the Colonials to just four first-half shot attempts.

"We started the game with great intensity; we were executing perfectly on the game plan and we were really excited to see that reflecting on the scoreboard," Taglianetti Bossell said. "I thought GW did a nice job of making some halftime adjustments and we weren't playing up to our potential during the second half."

GW's Olivia Boudreau got the visitors on the board two and a half minutes into the second half but Ilgenfritz struck again. She took a shot that was initially saved by Colonial keeper Mackenzie Jones, but it rolled back into the net on the rebound for her sixth goal of the game and an 8-1 lead with 25:51 to go.

The Colonials did not go quietly, as a Forcier goal at 19:55 sparked a six-goal rally over the next seven and a half minutes to cut the Explorers' lead to just one at 8-7 with 12:31 on the clock. Forcier scored all three of her goals in that 6-0 run.

The score remained 8-7 for six minutes in a spirited stretch of the game, and it was the Explorers with the final momentum. Brostrand drained the game-winning goal with 6:45 on the clock and Fay scored an insurance goal on a woman-up opportunity to give the Explorers a 10-7 edge with 4:50 on the clock. 

Gabby Antonelli came up with three huge saves in the next two minutes, including one on a free position shot.

GW's leading scorer Rachel Mia scored her first of the game with 3:02 on the clock for what proved the final 10-8 score. The Explorer defense clamped down to limit GW to just one more shot attempt in the final three minutes, which went wide.

"We are excited to get back to practice and work to put together a performance that spans 60 minutes," Taglianetti Bossell added.

The Explorers outshot the Colonials 30-19 for the game, including 19-4 in the first half. They also forced 13 GW miscues to just seven Explorer turnovers. The Explorers also scooped up 19 ground balls to GW's nine. GW edged the Explorers in draw controls, 11-9.

Antonelli finished with eight saves while picking up the win between the pipes. Jones made 13 saves for the Colonials.

The Explorers head on the road for three straight, starting next Friday (4/3) at George Mason.